Fiberboard shipping container



March 22, 1949. s. B. DE MlAN v FIBERBOARD SHIPPING CONTAINER 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 24, 1944 INVENTOR.

Patented Mar. 22, 1949 UNIT 151D STATES PATENT OFFICE FIBERBOARDSHIPPING CONTAINER Stanley B. De Man, Chicago, 111.

Application July 24, 1944, Serial No. 546,291

This inventionrelates to fiber-board shipping containers and moreparticularly to such containers with open tops or closable covers andwhich have a high degree of rigidity both vertically, to permitstacking, and transversely, to prevent lateral deformation.

For a number of years there has been a trend from wooden or metalshipping containers to corrugated or solid fiber shipping containerswhich have a number of distinct advantages. Among these advantages maybe mentioned their light weight and low cost, the small storage spacerequired for the box blanks, the facility with which they may beassembled, and the ease of printing attractive advertisements or legendsthereon. n the other hand, fiber-board containers heretofore proposedhave left something to be desired in the way of strength and rigidity.

There is a considerable demand for shipping containers with open tops orclosable covers, suitable for use in display and inspection of themerchandise contained therein, such as apples. pears, citrus, and otherfruits. In the case of wooden crates and boxes and conventional slottedand sealed fiber-board containers, the container is damaged or partiallydestroyed in opening and therefore cannot be reused, while it isdesirable from the standpoint of economy to be able to reuse theshipping container, particularly when utilized for the shipment ofbottled beverages. Furthermore, in the case of fiber-board containerswith open tops or closable covers, the containers of the prior art havebeen particularly lacking in rigidity and, when stacked, uppercontainers of the tier tend to drop within the lower ones, particularlyat one or more corners.

It is an object of the invention, therefore, to provide a new andimproved fiber-board shipping container which avoids one or more of thedisadvantageous characteristics of the prior art shipping containers.

It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improvedfiber-board shipping container which incorporates one or more of thefollowing advantageous characteristics: light weight, low cost, smallrequired storage space for the box blanks, facility of assembly,rigidity with respect to transverse loads, resisting deformation, andvertical loads, permitting stacking, and the provision of a substantialhorizontal supporting area to facilitate stacking .of the containersinto stable tiers.

In accordance with the invention, a fiber-board shipping containercomprises'side, end and bottom wall sections and flaps extending frompre- 3 Claims. (Cl. 229-44) determined ones of the 'side and end wallsections, preferably from both side wall and end wall sections. Each ofthe flaps is predeformed along spaced parallel lines at the upper edgeof its respective wall section and is bent along such lines and foldedinwardly to form a double wall section with an upper channel-shapedcross section, providing a rim of substantial area along the upperperiphery of the box. By the term "predeformed, as applied to the flapsand as used herein and in the appended claims is meant a scoring;creasing or partial cutting of the flaps to facilitate their bendingalong the predeformed line.

For a better understanding of the invention, together with other andfurther objects thereof, reference is had to the following descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawings while its scope willbe pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a completely assembled fiber-boardshipping container embodying the invention and provided with a closablecover;

Fig. 2 is a plan of a fiber-board blank suitable for fabrication intothe container of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail of the cover of Fig. 1 to illustrate themethod of attachment to the container;

Figs. 4 and 5 are longitudinal and cross sectional views, respectively,of the fiber-board container of Fig. 1, with the closable cover inposition; while Figs. 6 and 7 are cross-sectional details of thecontainer of Figs. 4 and 5 taken along the lines 66 and 1l,.respectivelyof Fig. 4.

Referring now to the drawings, there is illus trated a fiber-boardshipping container embodying the invention and comprising side wallsections Ill, end wall sections II and a bottom wall section l2. Theside, end and bottom wall sections may be formed from a suitable blank,preferably die-cut, and may be fabricated in any well-known conventionalmanner. Referring to Fig. 2, there is illustrated one form of blank fromwhich the container of Fig. 1 may be fabricated. The side and end wallsare of the same configuration as Fig. 1 and are similarly identified.The bottom section I2 is made up of side flaps Ho and end flaps I2bwhich, upon assembly of the box, may be secured together by gluing,stapling or the like. One of the side wall sections i0 is provided witha tab Me which, upon folding of the box, is secured to its adjacent endwall section I l by gluing,

stapling or the like. The container as thus far described is of entirelyconventional construction and may be made up of either corrugated orsolid fiber-board, although corrugated fiber-board, as indicated at lIIcin Fig. 2 and in the sectional views of Figs. 4 and 5, is preferred fromthe standpoint of structural strength and rigidity.

The container of the invention also includes a plurality of flapsextending upwardly from predetermined ones of the side and end wallsections. Preferably, these flaps extend from each of the side walls I!)and end walls II and comprise integral extensions Ia, Illa and Na, Ilaof the side and end walls, respectively. Each of the flaps ispredeformed, preferably scored, along spaced parallel lines at or nearthe upper edge of its respective wall section, for example, along thelines I'Ob, I01) and Ilb, III), as indicated in Fig. 2, the lines ofdeformation being substantially continuous in the container blank.Assuming for the moment that the container is to be supplied without aclosable cover, after the initial fabrication described above the sidewall flaps Illa are bent along their scoring lines and folded inwardlyand thereafter the end wall flaps IIa are similarly bent along theirscoring lines and folded inwardly to form double-wall side and end wallsections, the upper portion of each wall section having a channel-shapedcross section forming a peripheral rim I3 of substantial horizontal areacompletely around the top of the container. The flaps Illa, Ia and Ila,Ila are so proportioned, that is, they are of such a length, that theirupper ends rest on the bottom wall section I2 when they are foldedinwardly to provide vertical support for the inner edge of the rim l3.

In order to increase the rigidity of the container, particularly withrespect to diagonal strains, and to facilitate the fabrication, theflaps Illa, Illa and I la, IIa are cut away at their edges in the regionof the spaced scoring lines, as in dicated by the notches I01), I01; andIII), III) of Fig. 2, to miter the corners of the rim I3, as indicatedin Fig. 1.

Each of the flaps Illa, Ifla and Ila, I'la has a configuration suchthat, when it is folded inwardly, engagement is effected with at leastone other of the inwardly folded flaps for retaining the flaps in theirfolded positions. Specifically, one pair of opposed flaps, preferablythe end flaps Ila, has a width slightly in excess of the correspondinginner dimensions of the container with the side flaps Illa foldedinwardly so that the end flaps Ila resiliently and frictionally engagethe side flaps Illa and all of the flaps are retained in their inwardlyfolded positions. In order to obtain a snug fit of the inwardly foldedflaps Illa, Illa and Ila. ll'a, the notches "Id and I Id in the blank ofFig. 2 may be formed with tapered extensions. As a result, as indicatedin Fig. 6, the end flaps Ila press the lower portions of the side flapsIlla snugly against their respective wall sections I0, while the upperportions of the flaps IOa follow the tapered configuration of thenotches IOd. thus providing an extremely rigid structure. This is alsoindicated in Fig. '7, which is a horizontal cross-sectional detailthrough one corner of the container. A similar result may be procured byforming the edges of the side flaps Illa, Illa and end flaps IIa, Ilawith interlocking tabs and notches.

In order to permit the closing of the container when desired, there isprovided a closable cover member I4, preferably hinged at one side orone 4 end of the container. To this end the rim forming flap areprovided with spaced slots for receiving similarly disposed tabs on theedges of the cover member I4. Specifically, each of the flaps Illa, Illais formed with a pair of slots I0! between its two parallel scoringlines lb and the cover member I4 is provided with a pair of tabs Ila(Figs. 3 and 4) each having a pair of ears Ilb foldable against the tabto permit insertion in its respective slot Illf. The tabs Ilb areinserted in the slots I0 before the flaps Illa are folded inwardly. Assoon as the tabs I'la are thus inserted the ears Ilb resiliently moveoutward to engage the under side of flap Illa and to secure the cover inposition. The flap IDa is then folded inwardly, retaining the outwardlyextending ears Ilb between the double walls of the wall section, thuslocking the cover I4 in.

position. The tabs Ila are preferably scored or otherwise deformed alongtheir base lines so that they serve as a lockable hinge for the closablecover II. The cover I4 is also provided with a pair of tabs Ilc disposedto engage the slots ID] in the opposite rim of the container to assistin positioning the cover I4 with respect to the container. The cover mayalso be provided with a hole I id to facilitate lifting the cover.sired, the cover It may be formed in two parts hinged at either side oreither end of the container.

In order to facilitate lifting and handling the container, a slot He ispunched in each of the two opposed end wall sections II but the materialfrom the slot is not punched out completely but is struck inwardly inthe form of a tab Ilf, while the corresponding end flaps Ila are formedwith handle apertures IIg which, when the flaps are folded inwardly,register with the handle openings He and engage the tabs II to form asolid grip or handle for the container.

While in the embodiment of the invention illustrated, the flaps Illa,Illa and Ila, II'a are shown as integral extensions of the side and endwall sections, respectively, it will be apparent that these flaps may beformed separately and rigidly secured to the side and end wall sectionsby gluing, stapling or the like. Similarly, while the invention has beenillustrated as embodied in a container having double-wall constructionin both its side and end wall sections, it will be apparent that forcertain applications it may be suflicient to form only the end wallsections or the side wall sections with the double-wall constructiondescribed.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that the container of theinvention is one of high degree of structural strength and rigidity bothagainst side, end, and diagonal thrusts and against vertical loads andthat the substantial horizontal area of the rim I3 facilitates thestacking of the containers into stable tiers. At the same time, thecontainer of the invention may be conveniently used either with orwithout the removable cover I4. It will be apparent that, while thecontainer of the invention is of the general application for shippingvarious manufactured commodities. it is of particular advantage in theshipment of fruits and vegetables, providin a reusable container whichat the same time facilitates opening for inspection and displaypurposes. The container of the invention is also particularly suitablefor shipping beverages in bottles or paper containers and for shippingother packaged or wrapped food products.

If de-' t While there has been described what is at present consideredto be the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be apparent tothose skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may bemade therein without departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention.

I claim:

1. In a fiber-board shipping container the combination comprising awalled body and a preformed pivoted cover member hingedly supported onsaid walled body, said walled body including a plurality of wallsections each of which has a rim along the upper edge thereof and withat least one of said wall sections having a plurality of longitudinalslots in the rim thereof, and said preformed cover member including aplurality of tab-hinges corresponding in number to the rim slots of awall section with each tab-hinge including a foldable ear initiallyfolded for contracting the size of the entire tab-hinge for insertion ina corresponding rim slot and openable after insertion to provide atab-hinge length greater than the-length of the rim slot into which itwas inserted, with each tab-hinge retained on the wall section solely byits connection with the rim at the rim slot edge, and said tab-hinges inopen position preventing removal of the cover member but permitting thecover member to be pivotally moved to open and to closed position.

2. A container as defined by claim 1 and in' which the wall sectionhaving the rim with the longitudinal slots is formed with an integralflap which is deformed along spaced transverse parallel lines and foldedinwardly to provide said rim.

3. A container as defined by claim 1 and in which the wall sectionhaving the rim with the longitudinal slots is formed with an integralflap which is deformed along spaced parallel lines one of which islocated at the upper edge of the wall section proper and said flap isfolded inwardly to provide said rim with a substantial horizontal area.

STANLEY B. DE MIAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 317,997 Hollett May 19, 18852,044,301 Hill June 16, 1936 2,044,701 Junkin June 16, 1936 2,077,173Holy Apr. 13, 1937 2,151,472 Hubbard Mar. 21, 1939 2,214,813 Guyer Sept.17, 1940 2,306,328 Bib-erthaler Dec. 22, 1942 2,358,943 Smith Sept. 26,1944

